Going Deep Read online

  Table of Contents

  Going Deep

  Publication Page

  Dedication

  PRAISE FOR AUTHOR

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Also Available

  Also Read

  Thank You

  Going Deep

  by

  L J Vickery

  Immortals Book Three

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  Going Deep

  COPYRIGHT © 2016 by L J Vickery

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  Contact Information: [email protected]

  Cover Art by Angela Anderson

  The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

  PO Box 708

  Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

  Visit us at www.thewilderroses.com

  Publishing History

  First Scarlet Rose Edition, 2016

  Print ISBN 978-1-5092-0680-3

  Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-0681-0

  Published in the United States of America

  Dedication

  To all the friends who believed in me: Michele, Love, Kim, Elinor, Cindy, Jennifer, Tom, and Sandy.

  To my sister Judy, who helped with pre-edits and told me the manuscript was good.

  To Diane and Dot, my ever constant critique partners.

  And lastly to my husband, who does a little of this, a little of that…and a whole lot of everything else!

  PRAISE FOR AUTHOR

  LJ Vickery

  AND HER BOOKS

  ROCK HARD

  “Want a spicy, hot, erotic paranormal romance that will leave you breathless? Rock Hard is a great romance filled with excitement, danger, and of course some seriously spectacular sex! Tess and Marduk are wonderful together! Their chemistry is WICKED good! I freaking LOVED the whole God and Goddess dynamic. I can’t wait to dive into book 2!”

  ~Marie’s Tempting Reads

  TAKEN BY STORM

  “I LOVE how LJ Vickery writes her stories! They are full of phenomenal characters and great storylines. The romance is intense and the paranormal elements will enchant you as well as keep you on the edge of your seat. Taken By Storm may be my favorite book as of yet in this incredible series! The sex is super hot and the action is edgy and intense. A perfect book to get the readers’ hearts pumping and blood flowing hotly through the veins.”

  ~Marie’s Tempting Reads

  Prologue

  Underworld

  After thousands of years, it still sent Ereshkigal, the Underworld queen and goddess, into fits that she hadn’t been able to entice Nergal, her mate, into having sex again. Frustration had eaten at her when the debacle began, and it continued to gnaw at her until this very day.

  Was it any wonder she’d played with various gods over the centuries to incite Nergal’s anger? It usually worked too. He was always furious with her after her supposed trysts, and more than punishing to the gods she selected to taunt him

  What Nergal didn’t know was that, despite her little peccadilloes, she had never fucked any of them. Nor despite being unfulfilled by him, had Eresh succumbed to any physical overtures or even been kissed.

  Let Nergal be tormented by his imagination. It was no less than what he deserved. So many years wasted…so many years of physical loneliness. Was it any wonder she advocated for the enclave of gods now up on Earth’s surface? A relationship between Dagon and Holly might prove to be her greatest challenge.

  Dagon was one of thirteen trustworthy warriors who understood her complicated relationship with Nergal. They had long since given her their unyielding allegiances and would do anything for her, even while Nergal meted out his worst punishments to them for allegedly fucking his wife.

  Eresh believed in true love, and wanted each brave warrior god to find their Chosen—the one woman who would render them corporeal and end four centuries of invisibility. To this end, she found herself perched on the desk in front of her king, attempting to sway his resolve where Dagon was concerned. The dark one, who had become a minion of her husband, had found his way back into her favor when he’d come across his own Chosen and made amends with her gods.

  Oh yes. Ereshkigal had been on the lookout too for the locations of the gods’ mates, and had run into Holly simply by following Dagon to the little bar in Chicago where the human worked. The queen had been as surprised as he to find that fate had led him to his eternal love. Now it was time to see if she could manipulate Nergal; prevail over her husband to secure Dagon’s happiness.

  “I believe we should put a little twist in the game we’re playing.” Ereshkigal swept aside some of her husband’s papers, and made herself more comfortable on his desk. She let her legs fall apart a scant few inches. He scooted back from his piles of papyrus-work and eyed her suspiciously. Ah, yes, my love, you should be guarded where I am concerned.

  Ereshkigal spread herself a little farther and lifted her right heel to rest on her husband’s thigh.

  Nergal barely suppressed a groan. It was getting harder and harder to deny himself access to his wife’s sweet body. Ever since he’d initiated this new bet regarding the Blue Hill gods and their potential women, Ereshkigal had become more bold with her physical enticements. It had to be all that gods-damned love in the air. Hell, she had even forgiven him for sending Erra, the god of war and destruction, to Earth to battle the ever-growing number in the Quincy compound. Did she know that, in the end, the true bonds between the gods and their Chosen could not be denied? That’s what had him worried. Ereshkigal and Nergal had undergone the amulet ceremony several thousand years before. He still loved her. They had enjoyed many eons of mated bliss until…no, Nergal refused to think about it.

  After their irreparable split, his queen had flaunted multiple affairs in his face. He could do nothing but die a little inside each time she picked a new male. Nergal had learned to mask his pain. Despite her perfidy, he never blamed Eresh. He made sure, instead, to sow his revenge upon the hapless gods who flaunted their physical fealty.

  Nergal had made the Underworld a living hell for them by sending demons to battle them, ripping the queen’s sexual partners limb from limb on a regular basis, fea
sting on their pain. It was a pleasure to witness their torment, but none of them, in all the millennia of torture, backed down. They all stayed true to Ereshkigal and took their punishment rather than give up their allegiance to her. Their tenacity was baffling.

  Eventually, in the face of the gods’ stoicism, the demon punishments lost their appeal, and Nergal simply yearned to rid the Underworld of their presence. He came up with the game that he and his Chosen played.

  In the year 1624, they had agreed to send the thirteen gods to Earth to champion a visionary, Thomas Morton, who would soon meet up with trouble. The human established and led a pagan community that traded with the local Algonquin natives and quickly became the target of the nearby Puritans in Plymouth, led by Myles Standish.

  Nergal and Eresh acceded that if the immortals became successful in helping Morton sustain Merrymount without intervention, the group would be forever free to enjoy the fruits of their new community and live among the inhabitants therein. If their mission failed, they would be rendered invisible to the world, and forever walk the Earth in limbo. Either way, Nergal remained happy. The gods would not be allowed back in the Underworld.

  With a little help from Dagon, who had previously been part of the colony but easily swayed to Nergal’s side with a promise of much coveted power, the king plotted the gods’ downfall.

  Dagon became the proverbial fly in their ointment, bringing ruin to Morton and Merrymount. Hence, the twelve immortals were then relegated to a state of invisibility in the Blue Hills of Quincy.

  Dagon had been left on Earth long enough to set up a perpetual trust of money, and families in nearby Plymouth who kept vigil lest the dozen ever became corporeal again. After this accomplishment, the god was put into a deep sleep to be awakened should he ever be needed to lead a new fight against the band to which he once belonged.

  At the time all of this occurred, Nergal wondered why Ereshkigal had agreed to his rules of the game so easily. It meant she would no longer have her stable of admirers, no matter the outcome. He should have figured that she’d include some fine print, allowing them to become corporeal again if they found their destined women. How foolish to think she had given in so easily.

  Now, she advocated for Dagon.

  What had Nergal failed to consider during the god’s time on Earth? That Dagon had been busy screwing a number of the Pilgrim ladies, just like the gods in Merrymount had been warming the beds of some fair colonists and local Algonquians.

  In this, Nergal’s fatal oversight, Ereshkigal had bested him. The women of old who had become pregnant by the gods, began bloodlines that would take many centuries to ripen. And, when they did? Any god who came in contact with a modern-day DNA carrier would immediately return to the flesh. Not only that, but these same progeny might also be a Chosen for one of the other gods. If they found a match, they too could be made physical again.

  If the gods proved, this time around, that they could protect their potential Chosen, they could undergo the amulet ceremony with them and live happily ever after with them on Earth.

  Nergal’s loss of Dagon became two-fold. When the god returned to Plymouth after his many years sleep, he found that Lenore, the woman in charge of his PP—or Pilgrim Posse, as the Blue Hill bunch had nicknamed it—was actually his many-times removed granddaughter. When it had come time to do away with her, Dagon could not.

  Nergal had forgiven this lapse, and impressed upon Dagon the importance of continuing to keep the Blue Hills gods at bay. He’d even sent the war god, Erra, topside to assist him. This may not have been the smartest move, since Erra was not the most tractable of gods, but he believed it had gotten Dagon back on target.

  Nergal hadn’t found out, until it was too late, that Ereshkigal played for keeps. The next potential blood ancestor found was Holly, and she had turned out to be Dagon’s Chosen.

  Nergal’s wife sat, splayed and expectant in front of him. He sighed, a long-suffering sound. “All right, wife. I’ll bite. How do we change things up a bit?”

  “Simple. Without any interference from you, let’s see how Dagon deals with Holly.”

  He shook his head as if he didn’t understand.

  Eresh smirked. “Oh, Nergal. Don’t be a bore.” She closed her legs up and hopped down. “We’re both well aware of Holly’s existence at that bar in Chicago.”

  Chapter One

  Holly swiped the rag over the bar for the hundredth time in the past hour. She waited for Dagon, and her impatience showed. Her boss, Max rolled his eyes and gave an exasperated shrug, but what could Holly do? Her nerves were ramped.

  She couldn’t help but wonder if the whole thing with Dagon over the past week had been an anomaly? What if she’d imagined her torqued-up feelings for him during those few stolen moments in the alley?

  Shit! What if he didn’t show up? Holly bit her lip, and almost groaned out loud.

  After only the smallest bit of encouragement on Dagon’s part, Holly had practically thrown herself at the man. He’d been in the bar a couple of times, walked her home once, shown some interest. But the last time he was here, after some very deep conversation and soul-baring that had revealed a man unlike any she’d ever met, she’d invited him into the alley out back. She’d run from the door and launched herself into his arms, wrapping her legs tightly around his muscular ass and kissing him silly. Not that tall, dark, and dangerous had rejected those overtures. No. But he’d deflected when she’d suggested they rub more than lips. What kind of guy did that?

  On the other hand, he’d kissed her with even more intent the night he’d seen her to her apartment. And, even though he’d pulled back, Dagon had assured her he was interested. Certainly, the exquisite hardness of his cock pressing up against her needy warmth hadn’t been faked. When he’d looked at her with those deep, ebony eyes and told her he was a gentleman, and wasn’t going to take her up against a wall in an alley for their first encounter, she’d understood. In retrospect, however, it sucked.

  Maybe he’d said it to get the clinging Holly to let go, and the plan to meet up with her tonight had been a lie. Only time would tell…if it didn’t kill her first.

  ****

  Dagon had discovered Nergal’s plans to thwart his mating with Holly; a plan that might hurt his Chosen, and he’d urged Marduk and the other gods to help him. They’d surrounded the bar hours earlier in the evening. Their amassed presence alerted the war god, Erra, to their location, and as if on cue, Matthew—Erra’s new right-hand man—and his group of PP in their fine-tailored business suits filed into the place just after the gods convened.

  Marduk remained vigilant inside, invisible to all but the wind god, Enlil, who had been designated their corporeal man on the scene. Enlil had regained his body within a hundred yards of the bar because of his shared bloodline with Holly and would now stick as close to the bartender as possible in case trouble broke out before they expected it. As it was, Marduk was pretty sure that Holly would simply be monitored by the PP throughout the night, and the assholes would attack at closing time when she left the job.

  He ordered Dagon to mist outside with the rest of the gods. Weren’t the PP going to be surprised when their ex-boss walked in with Anshar and Lenore in tow?

  Enlil staked his claim at a table by placing his leather jacket strategically over a chair before heading to the bar to get a drink. Marduk could read his friend like a book, and from Enlil’s first look at Holly, the god had wanted a quick, reassuring hug…for himself…not her. The wind god had conveyed his worries to Marduk that something might go wrong, and he’d never get to know his other great-great grandchild. Marduk wanted to comfort Enlil, but right now the god in question mumbled something about unacceptable.

  “Excuse me?”

  Marduk groaned. Holly had asked Enlil about his drink of choice, and the idiot just said unacceptable. Fucking lame.

  She tried again. “What can I get you?”

  Impatience was plastered all over Holly’s face; a face so like Marduk’s
Tess that he wanted to go in for a hug too. Enlil better come up with an answer fast, because if Holly behaved anything like her twin, the god had about five seconds to respond or get hit with a sassy, verbal right hook.

  “Uh…a rum cocktail?”

  Marduk grinned. Nice save, Enlil. He settled in to watch and to wait.

  ****

  “Rum cocktail,” Holly said, shaking her head. “House rum okay?” She didn’t wait for an answer, but turned her back on the extra-large dude and wondered what the fuck had brought all the well-built, hot guys into the house tonight. Was there a convention in town that had everyone slumming?

  Here stood a tall, golden boy with muscles on top of muscles, and damned if those braids he sported weren’t working for him. On anyone else, they’d look effeminate, but the way he wore them…hell, if she hadn’t been so smitten with Dagon, she might have convinced herself to go after this guy.

  Holly wrinkled her nose. No. For some reason that thought left her feeling a little creeped out. Weird though. As hunky as he appeared, she got the instant vibe that he was more like best friend material. His eyes warmed as she slid his drink onto the bar, as if he could sense her thoughts. He handed her a twenty and walked away with a smug little smile.

  Holly shrugged. Cute but odd.

  She’d just changed the bill in the register and added the remainder to her tip jar when she felt Dagon walk in. Holly didn’t even question it. She’d developed such a connection to the man, she actually felt it when he came into the room. Weird. Her entire body just lit up, and he stood all the way across the room. Holly couldn’t help the shiver of delight that skittered down her spine.

  Dagon had been as good as his word. He’d shown up. And as he sauntered into her bar, he instantly captivated her mind, her soul…and every other part of her body. If that wasn’t a sign he was the one, she didn’t know what she’d need to clunk her in the head.

  The last time he’d been in the bar, they’d discussed the details of his professional life. After Dagon related that he hated his job and all the guys he currently worked with, she’d urged him to go back to a position he’d held previously, since there had been only good things to say about his former coworkers. Turned out that his cousin was one of those cohorts, and a quick glance in Dagon’s direction affirmed that must be who accompanied him tonight.